Saturday, September 26, 2015

Daughters, Nathan Walpow - Amazon.com He looks for crimes that fall through the cracks, criminals who do horrible things to those who can't defend themselves and get away with it. His ex-wife was murdered years ago, but until a mys He looks for crimes that fall through the cracks, criminals who do horrible things to those who can't defend themselves and get away with it. His ex-wife was murdered years ago, but until a mysterious young woman magically appears at his apartment, he had no reason to find out who did it or why. Soon the two of them are traveling up and down the length of California in order to bring a killer - and maybe a couple of others who deserve it - to justice. (This is a short story, not a novel.)

. . . and once again Texas leads the way! Brawl erupts as cheerleader dance-off turns nasty: A brawl erupted between two high school cheerleading teams after a impromptu dance-off turned nasty. The fight between Wilmer Hutchins Blue Bells and James Madison Trojanettes drill teams in Dallas happened after the football game ended last Friday.

The Ladder at the Center of a Centuries-Old Religious Tussle: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is a holy pilgrimage spot for Christians because it is regarded as the crucifixion and burial site of Jesus Christ. The church is also home to an object that's been inciting tension and hostility since the 18th century: a ladder.

Friday, September 25, 2015

Man Is Facing Felony Rap For Spoon Theft: SEPTEMBER 25--A man arrested last night for stealing a spoon from a Walmart told Florida cops that he swiped the utensil because he “needed one to eat his Captain Crunch with.”

Elementary, My Dear APA -- Paul Bishop: In 1973, DAPA-EM (which stood for Elementary, My Dear APA - don't ask, because I don't know the origin of the name) became the first and only APA (Amateur Press Association) devoted to the mystery genre.

The 1980s Book Series That Literally Claimed It Had To Be Read To Be Believed: Turn on just about any channel of American TV between 1987 and 1991, and there was a pretty good chance you would be treated to strange tales of spontaneous psychic connections that were “DISMISSED AS COINCIDENCE." Or a normal-looking guy talking about a magician’s honeymoon in the Great Pyramid, before harping on his friend to “Read the book!” You might even see a young Julianne Moore telling a story about an out-of-body experience. These were all commercials for Time-Life’s Mysteries of the Unknown series, a mail order book series that not only blanketed the airwaves with unforgettable commercials, but captured the zeitgeist of a burgeoning New Age explosion.

Edward Gorey's Books of Eerie Glory: Edward Gorey (1925-2000) was an American illustrator and writer, chiefly remembered for his illustrated books. Once you've seen a bit of Gorey's work, it becomes instantly recognizable. His books are full of rich, strange characters. Pipe-thin men and women in fancy dress, cats in clothing, fantastical, mythical creatures (including one that looks like a cheerful leech with butterfly wings), treacherous villains and much, much more. One of his earliest and strangest creatures was The Doubtful Guest, a moody and stubborn creature that resembled a furry penguin in high-top sneakers and a striped scarf.

I'm jumping the gun on Ed McBain week, but I'm going to have a reprint then. So I thought I'd talk about this book a week early. Back in the Olden Days before the Internet, we couldn't just click a few keys and find a ton of information on just about anything. Luckily for us, however, the Bowling Green University Popular Press did a lot of good work and published books like The Boys from Grover Avenue. This book was published in 1985, and it gives you an idea of how important Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels were. There were a lot of them, even then, thirty-five of them by 1983.

The table of contents gives you a good idea of what's in the book, but it doesn't mention that there are maps. Which there are. And I'll add a few words about the appendices since there's some good stuff there, including a timeline worked out from details mentioned in the books, crime stats for the 87, a necrology, a list of motives, a list of murder weapons, a discussion of the station house, and a few other items of interest. George N. Dove was a familiar name back in the early days of scholarship devoted to crime fiction, and I'm sure some of you remember him. His work was always solid and meticulous, or seemed to be to me. In looking around the Internet, I discovered that The Boys from Grover Avenue appears to be still in print, so it's easily available if there are any fans out there who'd like to get a copy.

Everyone can now sing ‘Happy Birthday to You’ free of charge: A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the sing-a-long party classic “Happy Birthday to You” is not protected by copyright. After millions in royalties had been paid to a music-publishing company, Los Angeles US District Judge George King ruled that the copyright originally filed in 1935 granted only the rights to specific arrangements of the tune and not to the song itself. Hat tip to Art Scott.

Yahoo Sports: New York Yankees icon, and Hall of Fame catcher, Yogi Berra has died at the age of 90 late Tuesday night. The Yogi Berra Museum was first to break the news, which was confirmed by MLB.

On the field, Berra was regarded as one of the greatest catchers of all time. Over his 19-year playing career, Berra hit .285/.348/.482, with 358 home runs. He made 15 straight All-Star games and won three MVP awards during his 18 seasons with the Yankees.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I can't resist a movie about the Three Musketeers. So naturally I like The Man in the Iron Mask. Don't worry, Leonardo DiCaprio isn't one of the Musketeers. They're played by Jeremy Irons (Aramis), Gerard Depardieu (Porthos), and John Malkovich (Athos). They're all older now, not serving as Musketeers, but their friend D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne) is and has become the Captain. Now if I'd been casting a movie about this group, one of the last people I'd have thought of would've been John Malkovich, but he's excellent, as are the others. Leo is King Louis XIV, and [SPOILER ALERT] he's also Louis' twin brother, Phillipe. [END OF SPOILER ALERT]I suspect that most of you know the plot of this story already, but maybe not from having read the book. I haven't read the book, either, but I did read the Classics Illustrated comic book long ago. From what I've been told about the book and from what I remember about the comic book, the movie's not exactly true to its source. That doesn't matter. It has swordfights and derring-do, and that's what counts.The plot is pretty complicated in the telling, although it simple enough to watch it play out in the movie. Raoul, Athos' son and new Musketeer, is in love with a woman whom Louis falls for. He always gets what he wants, even if it means pulling a King David and sending a new Musketeer off to the front lines to be killed. When that happens Athos vows revenge. He tries to go it alone, but that doesn't work out well. Porthos and Athos decide to help, so they dust off their old uniforms and decide to replace the king with someone else. There's this rumor, see, about a prisoner in an iron mask . . . .I won't say anything else about the plot, in case there's someone reading this who doesn't know how things play out. Okay, I will say that several people die, and they're not always the right ones (or the ones I wanted to see die, at any rate). This isn't a great movie, but it's a good bit of fun. It's worth watching just for the cast and costumes. Check it out.

Gravetapping: Publicity Push: The Robert Payne Novels: Ed Gorman is the definition of a professional writer. He has written dozens of novels in several genres—mystery, western, science fiction. His work has earned him The Eye for lifetime achievement from the Private Eye Writer’s Association, an Anthony, a Spur, and the International Writers Award.

Deadline: Jack Larson, an actor, playwright, producer and screenwriter best known from the classic 1950s comic book series The Adventures of Superman, died Sunday in his Brentwood home. He was 87 years old.

How Two 18th-Century Lady Pirates Became BFFs on the High Seas: The fact that Anne Bonny and Mary Read ever crossed paths at all is almost unbelievable. Of the thousands of pirates active in the Caribbean during the 17th and 18th centuries, we know the names of just two female marauders. In 1719, the pair would forge an improbable friendship that would start on the high seas and end less than two years later in a damp, dark jail in Spanish Town, Jamaica.

Cult Books: Obsession with the Obscure: Defining a cult book is not easy. Let's start with the more obvious aspects of cult lit. To begin, a cult book should have a passionate following. Buckets of books fall into this category, including classics like J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and On the Road by Jack Kerouac. But even mega sellers Harry Potter and 50 Shades of Grey can be considered cult lit by that definition. A cult book should have the ability to alter a reader's life or influence great change, and for the purpose of this list, it should also be a bit odd and a tad obscure.